post # 406 — Wednesday, July 18, 2007 — a Strategy post

What Gets Fat Smokers On The Diet?

I am just putting the finishing touches on my manuscript for my new book "Strategy and the Fat Smoker," which collects together most of the articles I have written in the past two years. I'm self-publishing it and hope to have it available some time this fall, probably as both an e-book and as a paperback.

Old friends will recognize the title as that of the article I did in 2005, and its theme runs through the book: in both personal life and in business, we usually know what to do, why we should do it and even how to do it. But that doesn't mean we always do the things that are good for us. In fact, because of short-term temptations, we usually don't.

So let me ask about what you've learned: what are the approaches that help a fat smoker change his or her bad habits and start doing the things that they already know are good for them? 

How does it work for organizations? What determines why some competitors stick to the long view and execute their strategy, while others always succumb to short-term temptations?  

By the way, if you're a blogger and would like to see a copy of the galleys / page proofs of the book (available in early September) drop me a line at my email address.